First openly gay Episcopal bishop divorces husband

The first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church has announced he is divorcing his husband.

Retired Bishop Gene Robinson announced that he is divorcing Mark Andrew in an email to the Diocese of New Hampshire Saturday and an article for The Daily Beast.

The coupled entered into a civil union in 2008 that converted to a marriage when New Hampshire legalized gay marriage in 2010.

His election in 2003 as the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican church created an international uproar and led conservative Episcopalians to break away from the main church in the United States.

He writes that details of his divorce are private and that he can't repay the debt he owes Andrew "for his standing by me through the challenges of the last decade."

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Comments

nick, 2014-05-04 16:25:02

Really?!?!? Don’t people live together anymore before getting married?!?!? I can’t believe people fight so hard for something and then say, oh well, it didn’t work out. So EXACTLY what does marriage mean to Robinson - a tax break? estate planning? Why make a vow if you’re not willing to keep it? I know, as Marcia Brady said, "Something suddenly came up." As a Gay man, I find all these gay divorces disgraceful.

Wayne M., 2014-05-04 23:03:41

This is sad news, but the fact is that there are very few support services in place either in our community or in churches to help same-sex married couples when troubled times come. (For that matter, there are few services and support systems in place for opposite-sex marriage.) This is a problem we must work on and solve if we are to continue to gain in the area of marriage equality.